INSEAD Annual Report 2023-20143 test - Flipbook - Page 44
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Bertarelli Foundation
UN Decade of Ocean Science
for Sustainable Development
2021-2030
Our Indian Ocean Marine Science programme is
an endorsed action of the UN Decade. In 2022, we
participated in the Foundations Dialogue meeting
in Morocco, and ran joint events at the UN Ocean
Conference in Portugal in June and at the West
Indian Ocean Marine Science Association conference
in South Africa in October. We also built links with
other endorsed Actions, including the Early Careers
Ocean Professionals.
REV Ocean expedition
In October 2022, REV Ocean and OCEEF organised
the first dedicated mesophotic and deep sea
expedition to the Chagos Archipelago on the
R.V. Odyssey. Five scientists participated from
the Marine Science programme from Bangor,
Plymouth, and Oxford universities. Submersibles
were able to conduct transects from 60 m to 500
m at two locations in the archipelago. Common
seafloor organisms and seaweeds were collected
for taxonomic work. Further sampling was done
to examine shallow-to-deep connectivity of coral
populations and environmental DNA to genetically
fingerprint biodiversity. Snorkel surveys were also
carried out to sample the the world’s rarest coral,
Ctenella chagius, for genome sequencing.
